Libyan rivals hold UN-led election negotiate

• Talks focus on a constitutional framework for elections after Libya’s various groups fail to agree in Cairo.
• Talks are the latest UN effort to bridge the country’s enemies.
• Libya has been wracked by conflict since NATO-backed rebels ousted Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.

Two senior Libyan officials began two days of negotiations on election arrangements Tuesday, the latest UN effort to bridge the country’s enemies.

Aguila Saleh, speaker of the east-based parliament, and Khaled Al-Meshri, president of the government’s Supreme Council of State, met in Geneva.

The UN said the talks will focus on a draught constitutional framework for elections after Libya’s various groups failed to agree in Cairo.

According to Libyan media, the qualifications for presidential candidacy are being contested.

The Tripoli-based council banned military personnel from standing for the country’s top office, allegedly targeting Khalifa Haftar, whose forces are loyal to the east-based authority.

Haftar said he would run in the elections in December, but they were put off because there were some unpopular candidates and problems with the law.

Tripoli has seen intermittent skirmishes between competing groups.

Fuel shortages in the oil-rich nation have worsened living conditions. Tribal elders closed many oil fields, including the country’s largest.

Also Read

Armed groups clash west of Libyan capital

Violent clashes shook a western region of the Libyan capital overnight and...

The blockage was aimed at cutting off critical state resources to Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who refused to resign even though the vote wasn’t held in December.

Now, Dbeibah and another prime minister, Fathy Bashagha, claim authority.

Last year, there were some small steps toward unity, but the rivalry has made people worry that the oil-rich country will go back to fighting.

Since NATO-backed rebels ousted and killed Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, Libya has been wracked by conflict.

The country was then run by different groups in the east and west, with help from militias and other countries.

Also Read

Fresh clashes erupted Libyan capital after failed coup

Heavy gunfire and explosions ricocheted over various districts of Tripoli on Friday....